Workers' Party of South Korea

The Workers' Party of South Korea was a Marxist-Leninist and communist political party in South Korea that existed from 1946 to 1949. The party was outlawed by American occupation authorities due to its opposition to the USA and the authoritarian government of South Korea, but it organized clandestine cells and a membership of 360,000 people. In 1947, the party initiated armed guerrilla struggle, and large sections of the party leadership moved to Pyongyang, North Korea as persecution of the party intensified. In February-March 1948, the party took part in general strikes to oppose the formation of a South Korean state, and its supporters would later be massacred during the failed Jeju uprising. In September 1948, the National Assembly outlawed the Workers' Party, and it merged with the Workers' Party of North Korea to form the Workers' Party of Korea in 1949. Party leader Pak Hon-yong and other WPSK leaders would later be purged from the North Korean government under Kim Il-sung.